Stamps have history to consider when mapping out final three regular-season games

If the Calgary Stampeders are worrying about hosting the West final, having nightmares about the scenario that occurred a year ago, there might be plenty of sleepless nights ahead. It’s a mere 32 of them before they finally kick off their post-season run.

If the Calgary Stampeders are worrying about hosting the West final, having nightmares about the scenario that occurred a year ago, there might be plenty of sleepless nights ahead.

It’s a mere 32 of them before they finally kick off their post-season run.

The 2014 Stampeders sit in a similar situation as last year, albeit with more time for things to go awry. In 2013, the Stamps clinched first place with one game remaining on the schedule, went into BC Place Stadium and lost three key players to injury, then were wiped out in the West final two weeks later.

The seven turnovers were the main catalyst for the loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, although missing defensive linemen Micah Johnson and Demonte Bolden certainly didn’t help the matter.

The regular season certainly didn’t end on a bright note, as the Lions whipped the depleted Stamps 26-7. Instead of a 15-3 record and a line in the record books as second-most wins all-time, the air suddenly came out of the balloon for the 14-4 Stamps.

So when the Stamps clinched first this weekend, there were plenty of deja vu feelings at McMahon Stadium, especially because this season also wraps up in Vancouver. This time, there are two games before that one kicks off — 180 minutes to subject players to injury, although there is a weekend off before the big game Nov. 23.

“We’ve had it before and we’ve lost. In 2008, we had it and won,” said running back Jon Cornish on whether it’s an advantage to host the West final.

“It’s hard to say it’s anything more than just a week off. We want a winning attitude in each game going forward. We can’t have a game like B.C. last year where lost the momentum we had. We had no momentum in the playoffs.”

So head coach John Hufnagel has a big task ahead of him over the next month. Have the team focused and striving to improve in every aspect of the game, plus keep as many players healthy as possible.

It will be a tightrope walk. If you rest the key players, you might destroy continuity. If you play everyone full out, you may lose the war of attrition.

Short of bubblewrapping some players and sending them on the field, there won’t be any way of ensuring nobody gets beaten up in the final three weeks. At least they won’t be losing Johnson, Bolden and receiver Marquay McDaniel — last year’s trio of final-game casualties — only because those guys are already out for the season.

“We will approach it like we have to become a better football team,” said Hufnagel a day after Saturday’s 33-23 win over Winnipeg that clinched first. “I was very pleased with the win, but I wasn’t pleased with how we played.

“We will definitely sit people that need to sit. We will play people that are healthy to play. If have the opportunity to play a new guy, we will take advantage of it. The overall theme is we want to get better.”

Hufnagel won’t have to stretch the truth to explain areas on which the Stamps can improve. Despite being 13-2 and on a three-game win streak, this team isn’t exactly dominating on the scoreboard. In the past two wins, the Stamps built leads only to see them evaporate and require a late-game touchdown for some breathing room.

It certainly wouldn’t be surprising to see them lose a big game, despite their current chances at completing a record season.

The 1989 Edmonton Eskimos were the only team to go 16-2 in the time of an 18-game regular-season schedule, but not too many people remember that squad. They lost to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the West final, and are a mere footnote in history.

So expect the Stamps to take the next 32 days to push themselves and be ready for a playoff run. And 18 wins in a calendar year would be CFL record.

“We’re a hungry football team and that’s why when we look at the film, we are very critical of ourselves,” said Stamps quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. “We’re not beating ourselves up but we’re calling ourselves out in a good manner.

“We know we can make these plays. We know we can block better. I know I can have better game management. We know we can be better and that’s what we want.”

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Stamps have history to consider when mapping out final three regular-season games